Welcome to AfterEllen.com!

Enter your AfterEllen.com username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
Home » Blogs » Dorothy Snarker's blog » Nothing compares 2 Sinéad O’Connor on Oprah

Nothing compares 2 Sinéad O’Connor on Oprah

by
Dorothy Snarker

Sinéad O’Connor on Oprah? No, this is not a Saturday Night Live sketch. Instead it’s a rare American television appearance for the Irish songstress. Today on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Sinéad will talk for the first time about her struggles with bipolar disorder. Her appearance comes almost 15 years to the day of her controversial SNL performance. Life has a strange symmetry sometimes.

From the first moment I heard Sinéad tear into the heartache of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” I knew I’d stumbled across something strange and wonderful. And over the years she has straddled that line between strange and wonderful, often hopscotching between the two. But always there was her voice, that clear and resonate instrument of her truth. Man, that woman can sing.

Of course, that same voice made her a lightning rod for controversy. Apparently, when you rip up the Pope’s picture on national television and yell “Fight the real enemy!” some people take offense. Funny how now, 15 years after her Oct. 3, 1992 SNL appearance, Sinéad’s claims of child abuse in the Catholic Church don’t seem nearly as insane.

On her official website, Sinéad says that Oprah sought her out to address her bipolar disorder and raise awareness about the problem. She will join her live in the studio, and taped segments on her U.S. tour and at her home in Ireland will also be shown:

“Oprah will be focusing on Sinéad as an artist, her balancing life outside career as mother of four, her newest album Theology, her role as an advocate, and how she has maintains this all while dealing with bipolar disorder.”

Since I have no problems with outspoken women — in fact, quite the opposite — I’ve always admired Sinéad. So I was thrilled in 2000, when she told Curve magazine that she was a lesbian, only to be a little befuddled when in 2005 she told Entertainment Weekly, “I’m three-quarters heterosexual, a quarter gay.” But however she does the math, her lesbian tendencies resulted in one of the most gorgeous lamenting lullabyes I’ve ever heard: “Emma’s Song.” In fact, every song off that album, Faith and Courage, is beautiful. And then there is the entirely site-appropriate “No Man’s Woman.”



Sinéad has always seemed like a woman on a journey. That journey has taken her on many roads, some strange and some wonderful, but always interesting. I’ve happily tracked her progress this far, and will no doubt continue to monitor her progress after these revelations. I mean, when even the back of her head is this fascinating to look at, how could I not?

  • Dorothy Snarker's blog
  • Login or register to post comments
    • Submitted by
    Dorothy Snarker
    on October 4, 2007 - 9:03am.
    TAGS :: 
    Sportylady's picture

    Wish I knew earlier

    Submitted by
    Sportylady (491 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 11:45am.

    I wish I knew earlier that she would be on Oprah, I would have recorded it.   I remember when she came out (big duh when that happened) but then I didn't hear anything after that.  I hope she can figure out what percentage is gay in the near future.

    "Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

    Nathiest's picture

    still sporting the shaved

    Submitted by
    Nathiest (831 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 11:59am.

    still sporting the shaved head look eh? nice.

    -Nathiest

    Nea's picture

    Nothing less, nothing more.

    Submitted by
    Nea (198 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 1:45pm.

    Love.this.woman.

    End of story.

    JustThinkin's picture

    still amazing

    Submitted by
    JustThinkin (3 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 2:45pm.
    went to her concert over the summer more or less on a whim seeing as it'd been over a decade since i'd last seen her live... i left amazed! she was incredible, blending songs from the new album with many of her older songs. of course, with her voice, she could sing the phone book and i'd likely listen.
    notshane's picture

    Sinead's 25% gay!

    Submitted by
    notshane (333 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 4:22pm.

    "I hope she can figure out what percentage is gay in the near future."

    She has Sportylady, haha! Sinead's on record in some interview a long time ago, where she said she was 3/4 het and 1/4 gay. That she tended towards "hairy blokes"...ah well..:)

    I reckon the Oprah interview will turn up sometime soon on YouTube if you miss it. Maybe someone on AE would like to tape it and upload it? (I'm afraid I'm pretty tech illiterate).

    Sportylady's picture

    Percentage

    Submitted by
    Sportylady (491 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 5:03pm.

    That's true, I did read that.  But that can change as she seems to a lot.  It doesn't bother me.  Maybe her percentage will increase an extra 25-75%.  I came out as 50% gay but then...well the percentage certainly changed as I got more comfortable with it. :)

    "Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from."

    fairly butch's picture

    bewitched, bothered and bewildered....

    Submitted by
    fairly butch (60 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 5:05pm.

    ........is how i feel about Sinéad - in equal measure alluring and frustrating.  but maybe that's reflective of her struggles with being bipolar (which i didn't know about until now); just when i think i've got a handle on her, she does - or says - something that's a complete contradiction.  then again, that's part of her appeal; she's never less than intriguing! 

    and that voice - rage or heartbreak, poetry or passion - she can turn it to anything.  from the raw emotional appeal of "Troy" on 'The Lion and The Cobra' to the re-working of standards such as "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" on "Am I Not Your Girl?", all are carried off with more heart and spirit than a dozen contemporary pop 'stars'.  so sing it loud, sing it proud, Sinéad: yes, you are our girl.

    bksn's picture

    Haunting

    Submitted by
    bksn (102 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 6:27pm.

    When I first heard that voice live, I started to cry. The memory of it haunts me. It was not of this world. That little woman; that huge, otherworldly voice. That is the whole of the Sinead O'Connor story for me. I love her.

    Miss Blurry's picture

    You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart

    Submitted by
    Miss Blurry (42 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 7:11pm.

    Love those to pieces with Sinead:

    You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKzfGyZTyo

    Conjure One feat. Sinead O'Conner - Tears from the Moon
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVKzfGyZTyo

     

    actio supra reactio // in vino veritas

    MsWoo's picture

    I am so sorry I missed this.

    Submitted by
    MsWoo (476 posts)
    on October 4, 2007 - 9:06pm.
    She is truly phenomenal. I was so glad to see here live in Philly a few years back.
    Vee's picture

    I have so much admiration

    Submitted by
    Vee (217 posts)
    on October 5, 2007 - 8:04pm.
    I have so much admiration for that woman. She is simply amazing. Loved her on Oprah.
    notshane's picture

    Whoah...

    Submitted by
    notshane (333 posts)
    on October 8, 2007 - 2:36pm.

    Her appearance on Oprah to discuss bipolar disorder has upped her MySpace website traffic by 10,000 new viewers in the last few days! It seem many people interested in her music are also drawn to the issues she opens up about.

    I was certainly awed by how candid she was about her colossal struggle with bipolar disorder; a condition that's plagued her whole adulthood. But I have no doubt that her painful experience has also fed her extraordinary creativity and injected her voice with that spine-chilling emotional range.

    Kudos to her for speaking out on yet another difficult subject.

     

     

    MsWoo's picture

    Only with Sinead...

    Submitted by
    MsWoo (476 posts)
    on October 14, 2007 - 1:49pm.

    it is sort of like Rosanne, Madonna, and Angelina... anytime any of them mentions that they are this or that, or did this or that, or were a victim of this or that... one has to wonder if it is not just another opportunity to be in the press.

     

    Poor Anne Heche... that's right I said "poor Anne Heche"... no one else ever jumped on the "I've been abducted by aliens" bandwagon.

     

    Much as I love Sinead, Madonna, and Angelina - I take pretty much anything any of them say with a grain of salt.


    Home » Blogs » Dorothy Snarker's blog » Nothing compares 2 Sinéad O’Connor on Oprah